Heroes
by GildedLilies
Summary: In a world where Team Rocket prevails, a group of rebels must survive in their world and find a way to overthrow their new dictators once and for all.


Chapter One: The Grand Scheme

Her grandfather used to tell the most amazing stories around the table at night as they had dinner. Pokémon were thriving in the region. They ruled the skies, the land, water, and the world had been beautiful. Young trainers could leave home as young as ten years old and travel, learn, and grow with Pokémon as their companions without fear.

This world seemed like a fantasy to Cassie. She had been born in the Cinnabar Island Pokémon Center, the only remaining "free" medical facility for Pokémon and humans alike. The only life she had ever known for the last eighteen years was the island, surrounded by water and dominated by a volcano. On a clear day if one stood on the north shore of the island you would be able to see the edge of Pallet Town, long abandoned by its citizens who now lived here. Her father had been a child when he and his family had been forced out of their homes by Team Rocket.

A lot had happened to the once peaceful region of Kanto. She and the few other children on Cinnabar Island learned every detail of the situation on the mainland from their parents and the gym leaders, who now governed the island. Team Rocket had finally straightened themselves out forty years ago. They seemingly went from a goofy, unorganized group of criminals to a militarized and dangerous thing to be feared overnight. Viridian City was the first, transforming into the hub of Team Rocket's activity quickly. Citizens were forced from their homes or forced to join Team Rocket. Some went south to Pallet Town, and from there everyone went to Cinnabar Island. Others fled north to Pewter City where Brock promised to do his best to protect them. Celadon City was the next to fall, and so it went from there. Little by little, town by town, Team Rocket continued their conquest until the only place that remained was Cinnabar Island, which now housed every gym leader still alive, the Elite four, refugee citizens from the towns and cities, and a few trainers who had managed to escape being killed or recruited by Team Rocket.

After they had conquered the land, Team Rocket focused their efforts on making sure that they remained at the top. This meant keeping anyone from training Pokémon. They sent their agents all over the region with orders to kill any weak and useless Pokémon they saw, or if it was worth it, capture them for their own. None were to remain in the wild. And so now the land is virtually empty of Pokémon but for those in the possession of Team Rocket and those on the island, being taken care of and trained agonizingly slowly.

During the course of all of this, Cinnabar Island's supplies had been completely cut off. They are now forced to grow their food on the thankfully fertile volcanic earth, but have to continually conduct raids on the mainland to get any other supplies they need.

This was the world that Cassandra lived in. It was dark, harsh, and it was difficult to find hope. Many of the old gym leaders and Elite Four members had died of old age on the island, remembered forever as heroes to those who lived there. But now new faces were taking control and picking up where their old leaders had left off, herself included. They were planning a heist in the heart of Veridian City, where Giovanni (now an old man) was known to keep his stash of stolen and breeding stock pokemon.

Cassandra was eighteen years old and had lived her entire life on the island. She had a rough look about her. Her tanned skin was only a shade or two lighter than her chocolate brown hair and her eyes seemed to perpetually have tired circles under them. She stood at a healthy 5'5" and her body was lean, both from having to ration food and from pulling her weight in the community. She wore a simple red t-shirt and brown cargo pants, and her shoes were an old pair of boots. Most of her clothes were hand-me-downs, though some were sewn for her by others as she had grown. A pair of goggles currently dominated her face to protect her eyes from the sand currently being kicked up mercilessly by her Pokémon.

A large and well cared for pidgeot was vigorously flapping its wings, creating a sandstorm to blind and disorient the other trainer and Pokémon on the beach. The other trainer called out an order to the opposing Pokémon in a male voice, but she could hardly see or hear him through the sandstorm. Before long a barrage of star-shaped rays shot through the storm, stinging pidgeot enough to get it to stop attacking. It let out a short screech of pain and the storm died down, revealing their opponents, a young man and his staryu. The man, oddly enough, was laughing.

Covered in sand, he seemed to think his situation was hilarious. Underneath the grit he was around the same age as Cassandra, perhaps older, with dirt(ier) blonde hair and the same tanned skin as her. He wiped the sand from his green eyes and spat some out of his mouth while his Pokémon shook itself off.

"You aren't supposed to laugh, Reid," she chastised, looking genuinely hurt. It was difficult to get any respect around here. Pidgeot ruffled its feathers, settling down in the sand to warm itself, clearly aware that the battle was over.

Reid didn't stop smiling, shaking the sand from his hair. "I didn't think this was a serious battle. We're only practicing." He walked to the edge of the water and stooped down, dipping his hands in to wash the sand off of his arms, "You could have had me with that, though. We couldn't see a thing through the storm and you could have done anything you wanted."

His answer satisfied her only enough to get her to lower her arms. "So you think we're ready?"

He shrugged, "Ready as we'll ever be. With any kind of luck we won't have to battle at all." He stood up, still largely covered in sand and dirt. He took an incredibly old and battered pokeball off of his belt and the staryu disappeared inside of it. "I say we do it this afternoon. They won't be one their guard as much in the middle of the day."

She nodded in agreement, copying Reid and calling back pidgeot into its own battered pokeball. "Right. Still have the uniforms?" They had captured a couple of rookies a while back, one male and one female, so they could steal their uniforms for disguises. Those bodies had never been found.

At that his grin got even wider, if possible. "Of course we still have them. Martha even found something in the pockets."

This of course perked her ears, so to speak. Her eyes widened a little in surprise and excitement, "What was it?" How lucky could they have possibly gotten? Anything would be useful, really. A crumpled up bill, a photograph, an ID, any number of things crossed her mind.

"Come on and I'll just show you," he teased, beginning the walk back to the town and simply trusting that she would follow, which she did eagerly. This was her equivalent to Christmas. It was a short walk back to the crowded expanse of buildings that now made up the island. Each dwelling was pressed right up against another with no space in between; the only free land was the walkways and the beaches. Small fires burned were folks were still preparing breakfast for their families, adopted or otherwise. Laundry hung on lines strung above their heads as they walked, smiling and waving at people as they passed. Everyone knew everybody on the island, both she and Reid had grown up with each and every one of these people. Here and there Pokémon frolicked as well, mostly sticking with their owners and trainers.

They finally reached Martha's home, a large tent reinforced with wood in places outside. She was the best seamstress of their motley group, and had thus been in charge of making sure their stolen uniforms were in good condition and fit them well enough that they could look like actual Rocket recruits. They rang a small bell that she had strung up outside, and her old voice called out from inside. "Come in, come in!"

The inside of the tent was much more interesting than the outside. Martha had an old table in the corner that was piled all around with her sewing supplies. Next to it on the floor were bins labeled "finished" and "unfinished", each loaded with folded up clothing. She had photographs all over her walls and an enormous patterned rug dominated the space on the floor. Her bed was in the corner, just a mattress loaded up with brightly colored blankets and pillows. Martha herself flung her arms around them both at once, nearly drowning them in the cloak that she wore to keep herself warm. "Been expectin' you two!" She cackled, "Been workin' hard on those costumes. Good as gold, now, good as gold!" She took a large step back, hands on her hips as her little tangela peered out behind her. Martha was very old, and thin. Her white hair was pulled back into a messy and frizzy bun at the back of her head and her glasses hung around her neck. She wore a large purple cloak over top of a bright yellow shirt and a green skirt. She was also decked out in costume jewelry. The gaudier the better for old Martha. "Expect that's what you kids are here for?" Her face and voice took on a more serious tone.

Cassie nodded, "Yup. Today's the day."

Martha shook her head, shuffling to the back of her tent, "What has the world come to when kids have to be adults? Should be enjoyin' yourselves, livin' life, like when I was a girl…," she mumbled on about her days as a Pokémon trainer in her youth, rummaging through the "finished" bin and pulling out a pair of black uniforms with the familiar red R on them. "Here they are. Spotless. Not a sign that dead 'uns wore 'em. Try 'em on, see if they fit." She handed the female set to Cassie and the male set to Reid, who looked at each other as if unsure. Martha noticed and screeched about it, "This the time for modesty, kids?" She glared at them both, watching angrily as they quickly took off their normal clothing and replaced it with the Rocket uniforms. Cassie's fit like a glove, but it felt odd to be wearing a skirt instead of her pants. The outfit was very sleek, with long black sleeves, gray gloves and gray booths that reached up above her knees. She shook her hair out of its ponytail and let her goggles hang around her neck, putting the black Rocket official hat on instead. The final piece was the belt on which she hung two pokeballs, pidgeot and her one other pokemon.

Looking over she saw that Reid had finished dfressing as well, in a nearly identical outfit. The only differences were that his boots only came up to his ankles and he got to wear long pants. She was a little jealous. He too only had two pokemon, his staryu and one other. They soon realized that they were both looking each other up and down, but before they could say anything Martha took over. "Excellent! They fit like they're standard issue! Nothin' less from me," she mumbled, circling them like a hungry vulture. "Gotta promise ol' Martha one thing though, kids. The minute this mission's over you change out of these ratty things. The sight makes my skin crawl."

"Mine too," Reid admitted, looking down at himself.

Martha stepped back again, "Don't get yourselves killed. All I ask. Or captured. Make sure ya come back in one piece."

They both agreed. "Thank you Martha," Cassie said. "We promise." With that they bid the old bat farewell, carrying their old clothes in their arms. Of course people stared as they walked back down the path, some shaking their heads while others simply watched them somberly. It was no secret that the two of them were going on this mission.

They reached the part of town where their own families lived, Cassie only had her parents, while Reid had his parents as well as four younger siblings. Quadruplets. Those four kids had been the biggest thing to happen to their lives in a long time, the whole town loved them. They each said their goodbyes, in her case tearfully, and then went to go speak with the leader.

The leader's dwelling was not easy to miss. He lived in the old Cinnabar Island gym building, along with several other important people on the island. This was also where they kept most of the Pokémon that didn't belong to trainers. They had long ago expanded the building, made one half inhabitable for Pokémon and the other for humans. The Pokémon were mostly those that they had rescued from the wild, with a few that had been saved from Rocket members or given to them for safekeeping by defeated citizens and now-dead gym leaders. Artificial grass and trees, manmade water, sand, and even dark caves had been constructed in this expansion of the gym, all for the sake of the Pokémon. They were headed for the humans, though. The leader was waiting for them.

Lance. The Dragon Master. Though older now, he still held an air of youth and strength about him. He stood tall and proud, dressed in his familiar red and black. "Cassandra. Reid." He greeted with a mischievous grin, shaking each of their hands, "Shall we go over the plan?"


End file.
